


Metronome

by fluffyquill



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Insomnia, M/M, Metahuman of the Week, Rated for language and brief mentions of sex and death, Warnings for drowning, vague hints at Aquaman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 08:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9811874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffyquill/pseuds/fluffyquill
Summary: Other than officially having Barry in his life on a regular basis, nothing had really changed.  So why was Leonard suddenly having an issue falling asleep?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Minor warnings for drowning, nothing permanent.

For the first month or so of living together, Len found that he had a harder time falling asleep. Other than officially having Barry in his life on a regular basis, nothing had really changed.

 

In the wee hours of the morning, after the Flash hung up his suit for the night and Len sat up waiting for him, they partook in pizza and rather riveting conversations ranging from politics to proper plant propagation. Saturdays were reserved for lazing about and sprawling on the couch watching movies. Once a month, they faced off against one another during one of the Rogues’ heists.

 

And sex, of course.

 

But nothing had been able to explain Len’s sudden inability to fall asleep after Barry had moved in. The man would lie awake, staring at the ceiling like it had personally offended him. Against his side, Barry would be curled up, completely out cold. (Before their cohabitation, Barry had avoided touching him more than necessary, suppressing his more tactile nature for months until Len had said it was okay. And when Len had finally given him permission, Barry was like a gangly octopus with the attention-starved personality of a cat.)

 

Len tried not to let his frustrations get the better of him during waking hours.

 

All he had done was give Barry a key.

 

They’d been seeing one another for about five months, so Len had a duplicate key to his apartment made, and set it atop an intricately decorated slice of peach pie.

 

_Jesus, Lenny. Are you planning on proposing?_

 

It was only a key.

 

 _Best Pi Day gift ever_ , Barry had rejoiced, goofy geek that he was, _and holy crap did you make this pie yourself?_

 

For weeks, he agonized over his insomnia. True to form, he had pushed through it, averaging about three to four hours of sleep, if he was lucky. He was used to getting a few scant hours of rest every now and again, but this? This was becoming torturous. Every little thing seemed to annoy him, and his temper grew increasingly worse.

 

Even Lisa had commented that his fuse was almost shorter than Mick’s, and that was saying something.

 

It wasn’t until about the seventh week that he found the cause.

 

He’d been counting the seconds to try to lull himself into slumber, but he kept losing count. The skills he’d learned as a child – the skills that had kept him _alive_ – were failing him.

 

Through the silence of their bedroom, there was only the _thumpity-thumpity-thumpity-thumpity-thump_ of Barry’s heartbeat drumming against his ribcage like an insistent woodpecker, interrupting his thoughts.

 

Son of a _bitch_.

 

He knew that almost every aspect of Barry’s body worked faster, and it was a bodily function that his partner had no control over.

 

It wasn’t like he could ask Barry to just slow his heart rate down to normal human speeds so that Len could sleep for a change.

 

~

 

_Barry!!_

The second he and Barry were in the back of the van and Ramon was peeling away from the marina, Len had started compressions, pumping down on his partner’s unresponsive chest with interlaced fingers.  Fear clawed its way up his throat, but he pushed that feeling down with a violent shove.

 

_Come on, Barry! Stay with me!_

 

That beast – that _monster_ of a metahuman had snatched the Flash right off the riverside dock, and dragged him into the water like something straight out of a Jules Verne nightmare. Barry’s sharp scream had been the only warning, followed by that terrifying splash of dark, cold water.

 

Nothing Len had experienced before was as terrifying as that moment.

 

Not until he’d gone in after them, and he’d seen the last few precious bubbles escape Barry’s lips. The speedster went limp in the water, and the beast mysteriously fled, a flicker of a man’s silhouette in swift pursuit.

 

He had to get Barry’s heart started again.

 

The Flash still had work to do. Barry still had an entire life ahead of him to live. Len didn’t care if he ever slept another night for the rest of his life. He was going to revive that obnoxious, too-quick rhythm that kept him up at all hours.

 

 _Drive_ faster _, Cisco!_

_I’m driving! I’m driving!_

Water pooled all around them, the blood from Barry’s various injuries staining the van’s floor a sickening red.

 

_BARRY!_

Something beneath his hands gave way. The speedster’s body twitched faintly, and he gave a feeble cough, spitting up water.

 

_That’s it. That’s it. Breathe for me. There you go._

 

After a whirlwind surgery, Len had finally awoken some hours later to the beep of a heart monitor. Gentle hands ran over his head where he lay slumped over the medical bed.

 

_Hey._

_Hey yourself. Why didn’t you wake me sooner?_

_You looked like you could use the rest._

 

And the _thumpity-thumpity-thumpity-thump_ was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard in his entire life.

~

 

“What are you thinking about?”

 

Len grunts softly, tightening his arms around Barry’s middle. “Nothing.  Why do you ask?” he says with a yawn.

 

“Because you’re you, Len. I can hear you thinking.”

 

“Oh good, so my Sith powers are working.”

 

“You would _not_ be a Sith Lord.”

 

“And you think I’d make a suitable Jedi? Please.”

 

His partner huffs a laugh, saying nothing. Through the thin fabric of Barry’s old t-shirt, Len can hear the beat of the speedster’s pulse thrumming against his ear.

 

So strong.

 

So quick.

 

His mind briefly flashes to that horrifying moment last month when the Krakken attacked and Barry’s heart stopped altogether.

 

“I’m thinking that your heartbeat is like a damn hummingbird’s,” Len deflects, “It feels like it’s going to take off at any second.”

 

Barry smirks. “You give my heart wings, Len.”

 

The man snorts, his breath tickling Barry’s side.

 

“And actually, my heart rate is probably more comparable to a rabbit’s?” Barry adds, staring up at the ceiling and idly running his fingertips over Len’s bare shoulders. “Depending on the species, a hummingbird’s heart can reach over a thousand beats a minute, and I’m sure that at that rate, I would probably actually die. A rabbit’s resting heart rate is anywhere from 140 to 180, and my resting heart rate is 170.”

 

“What is it when you run?”

 

“Usually? Uh, about 250. Though under extremely stressful situations, I have hit 310 before. And when I first got my powers and I was in the hospital those first few months, my heart would go so fast that the machines thought it had stopped. I think Caitlin had pegged it close to 450 for it to do that. But then everything evened out and _presto_!”

 

Len smiles. “A rabbit-hearted speedster comes out of the magic hat.”

 

“More like out of his magic coma, but yeah.”

 

Len presses a kiss to the exposed patch of skin over Barry’s stomach where his shirt has ridden up. The spot where the Krakken’s teeth had sunk in, but now, not a trace is left.

 

“I’m glad.”

 

_That you woke up._

_That you became the Flash._

_That you didn’t die._

_That you’re here with me._

 

They lie intertwined in each other’s arms, soaking in each other’s presence until the beat of their hearts sing them both to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So, in s2e1, it’s kinda fuzzy, but you can make out the numbers on the EKG next to Barry’s hospital bed, which look like 250 over 170. That then led to listening to metronomes on YouTube and LORDY those are quick. Barry’s heart rate is described as “really fast,” and anything over 100 is diagnosed as tachycardia. 
> 
> ...I like to randomly research stuff.
> 
>  
> 
> ~ A Fairly Fluffy Quill


End file.
